Our 2025 Production:
The Gift
Due to Tropical Storm Chantal shutting down our former studio space, our opening weekend has been postponed to August 15. If you purchased tickets to shows on August 8, 9 or 10, you will receive a voucher from our team to utilize for another show. If you are not able to make it to a new date, please note that all tickets are non-refundable and your ticket(s) will then turn into a donation to our organization, as we are 501(c)(3). Thank you for your understanding.
Every year we perform our annual pageant at the Forest Theatre in Chapel Hill, NC on UNC’s campus.
This season will be performed from August 15 - September 28. Shows are held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Shows start at 7pm with an opener going on at 6:20pm.
Sunday matinee shows will be on September 14, 21 and 28 starting at 3pm, with the opener going on at 2:20pm.
And we always have a Labor Day show- this year on September 1.
PLEASE READ OUR FAQ’S
BEFORE PURCHASING TICKETS
ALL TICKETS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.
Scroll down to see the openers
We are also returning to Asheville, NC to the
Wortham Center for the Performing Arts from November 7-9.
About The Gift
Stories move on the water. The water moves in all things. Life moves in dynamic patterns that weave like currents and rich tapestries that shape who we are. We may sometimes fall short of such states of grace. We readily receive the gifts the world provides with no explicit expectations in return. Yet reciprocity could very well be our best pathway to survival. We can decide to give back, and now is the time. We were built for this. Made for it.
We humbly request the gift of your presence as we seek this balance. Let the Grandmothers tell you a story that you didn’t know you needed. Let the water protectors and heroines of justice sing you a song of resilience. Let us share a moment of connection, wonder and gratitude. Let us create this, our future, together — through art!
Join us in honoring the rare gift that is life on Earth as we celebrate Paperhand’s 25th year! Come and experience the magic of giant puppets, masks, stilts, painted cardboard and cloth, illuminated puppets and shadows all set to original live music in a performance for all ages. See you at the show!
This year’s show features a collaboration with Jaki Shelton Green, North Carolina’s Poet Laureate, singer and songwriter Dawn Landes, and Louise Omoto Kessel, and highlights the important work of water protectors like Claudia Lopez, Elaine Chiosso (former Executive Director of Haw River Assembly) and Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, Co-Founder and CEO of 7 Directions of Service.
See you at the show!
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Our Openers This Season
For our evening shows, our openers go on at 6:20pm. For our matinee shows, our openers go on at 2:20pm. Please enjoy their sets and follow their work through the links below!
August 15 - Beaux Mondes
August 16 - Tea Cup Gin
August 17 - Abigail Dowd
August 22 - The InterACTive Theater of Jef
August 23 - Boomtown Strutters
August 24 - Emma Jane
August 29 - A Different Thread
August 30 - A Different Thread
August 31 - Couldn’t Be Happiers
September 1 - Richard Scher
September 5 - Anna La Mare
September 6 - Shannon O’Connor
September 7 - Rabbi Sandra
September 12 - Jesse James DeConto
September 13 - Big Celtic Fun
September 14 - Mysti Mayhem (Matinee), Eric Bannan (Evening)
September 19 - Mebanesville
September 20 - Katherine Whalen
September 21 - Tom Eure & Amelia Osborne (Matinee), Pippa Hoover (Evening)
September 26 - Laura Jane Vincent and Tom Troyer
September 27 - Scott and Shannon Morgan
September 28 - Bill West (Matinee), Chessa Rich (Evening)
Want a Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes?
We are already busy dreaming up this show through drawings, collaborating with artists and writers and more! We provide exclusive sneak peeks of what we’re building to our paying Patreon subscribers.
Sign up to sustain us for as little as $4 a month to see what we’re up to!
Volunteering
Our Community Workdays are over for the season!
Thanks to all that came out to our studio to lend your time and talents.
We now need reliable volunteers to show up to help run our front of house and to perform in our shows with us!
Front of house volunteers commit to a day (or more if you can!) They help us with selling our merch, scanning tickets and helping guests pay for their tickets, answering questions from our guests, and ushering in guests to the theater and making sure the audience is making room for all attendees!
Once you sign up for a shift, please mark it in your calendar and show up on the date you signed up for!
Thank You To Our Partners & Sponsors!
